Tuesday, September 10, 2013

English Tea Shop Organic White Tea with Blueberry and Elderflower: A Tea Review

One of my biggest tea drinking locations,
believe it or not, is my workplace. I
have a draw of my desk full of little tins of various tea bags, something for
every situation. My lovely work colleagues and I often have a few conversations
about tea too. So since I have been on leave taking care of the newest
additions to our family I have missed those interactions, not to mention I
haven’t really been out and about that much to my favourite tea shops. Anyhow,
I popped in for a visit the other week and one of my lovely friends was
drinking an interesting blend, so I had to go out and buy it myself!

I discovered teas by English Tea Shop about
six months ago at a really lovely organic café and market store near the
hospital. While hospital cafeteria food isn’t terrible, it has nothing on this
place. Naturally, in that case, ETS teas are organic and some are also fair
trade. You could debate for hours about whether or not that makes them taste
better however anything that makes you feel good about what your consuming
surely would taste better on a psychological level.

This lovely tea is a White Tea with
Blueberry and Elderflower. It is a light fragrant tea with a really feint
sweetness. If you have read my post about Pickwicks Green Tea with Cherry and
Elderflower you will know about my affections for elderflower and also cherry.
I happen to also enjoy blueberries just as much as cherries. The one thing I enjoy about the weather
warming up is that the price of fresh blueberries comes down, yum! So this tea
is a perfect spring tea with its mix of delicate flavours.

White tea comes from the same plant as
black and green tea. The different types of tea are produced during the processing
of the leaves and buds and different levels of oxidation or fermentation. During
this process the leaves and buds are left to dry out and the longer they are
left the darker they turn. This is where some science comes in to play when we
discuss tea as the chlorophyll is broken down and the tannins are released. The
tannins are allegedly where the health benefits of tea come from. So in this
case white teas have a shorter fermentation process which results in the leaves
and buds having a silvery off white colour. This results in a beverage that is
a pale yellow colour and also light in flavor.

Where I live ETS teas aren’t easy to come
by, being only available in a handful of organic shops that I’m aware of. They
have an Amazon shop however in Australia I would be wary of buying some tea
blends online from overseas as there is a chance, depending on the blend, that
it may not pass quarantine. This is especially so for teas containing fruity
bits like citrus peel. The price of these teas is surprising at around $5 for a
box of 20 tea bags. Now depending on how much you love great tea that $5 may
seem expensive or a really good deal.

If you can get your hands on this beautiful
tea you must give it a try!

My tea place for this tea is here. Wandering
through a beautiful field of white spring flowers.

***UPDATE: I have found an Australian online store selling all of ETS' lovely teas, see below!

Hi baihaayinzhen, thanks for that info! Which Coles were you shopping at? I had a look at Coles online but unfortunately couldn't find it there, hopefully soon!Thanks for stopping by and leaving us a comment!

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About A

A is not an expert in Tea, nor does she claim to be, she's more of a Tealiever (that's a tea believer). She is also a comedian who enjoys creating appalling puns.

A desires to live in the world of Austen but with all the mod cons a 21st century girl needs, like anything starting with the letter i. A passion for history, literature and being posh, well trying to be, collide for some interesting teaventures.

A lover of tea for as long as she can remember, A takes hers black with two.